James Shields
This article is about the U.S. Senator. For the pitcher, see James Shields (baseball). For the U.S. representative from Ohio, see James Shields (1762-1831). For the American poet, see Shaemas O'Sheel | birth_place= Altmore, County Tyrone, Ireland | dead=dead | death_date= | death_place=Ottumwa, Iowa | spouse= |branch=United States Army Union Army |rank=Brigadier General |serviceyears= 1846 - 1848; 1861 - 1862 |battles=Mexican-American War American Civil War }} James Shields (May 10, 1810 – June 1, 1879) was an American politician and United States Army officer who was born in Altmore, County Tyrone, Ireland. Shields, a Democrat, is the only person in United States history to serve as a U.S. Senator for three different states. Shields was a senator from Illinois 1849 to 1855, in the 31st, 32nd, and 33rd congresses, from Minnesota from May 11, 1858 to March 3, 1859, in the 35th congress, and from Missouri from January 27, 1879 to March 3, 1879, in the 45th congress. Early life and career Shields was the nephew of another James Shields, also born in Ireland, who was a Congressman from Ohio. The younger Shields immigrated to the United States around 1826 and settled in Kaskaskia, Randolph County, Illinois where he studied and later practiced law. He served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, beginning to serve in 1836, and then as an Illinois Supreme Court justice and in 1839 as the state auditor. (He was elected when not yet a citizen; Illinois then required only that a legislator have been resident in the state for six months.) Shields nearly fought a duel with Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1842. Lincoln had published an inflammatory letter in a Springfield, Illinois, newspaper, the Sagamon Journal that poked fun at Shields, the State Auditor. Lincoln's future wife and her close friend, continued writing letters about Shields without his knowledge. Taking offense to the articles, Shields demanded "satisfaction" and the incident escalated to the two parties meeting on a Missouri island called Sunflower Island, near Alton, Illinois to participate in a duel. Lincoln took responsibility for the articles and accepted the duel. Just prior to engaging in combat, Lincoln made it a point to demonstrate his advantage by easily cutting a branch just above Shields' head, the two participants' seconds intervened and were able to convince the two men to cease hostilities, on the grounds that Lincoln had not written the letters. In 1846, Shields was selected as a brigadier general of volunteers to fight in the Mexican-American War. He served under Zachary Taylor along the Rio Grande River. He commanded the 3rd Brigade, Volunteer Division, at the battles of Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo, where he was wounded. He returned to fight at the battles of Contreras and Churubusco, his brigade now part of the 4th Division. He was again wounded at the Battle of Chapultepec. Following the war, on August 14, 1848, he was nominated by President Polk, and confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as governor of Oregon Territory that was created that same day.Senate Executive Journal: Monday, August 14, 1848. Library of Congress, retrieved September 13, 2007. However, he declined the position and Joseph Lane was nominated and became the first governor of the new territory.Senate Executive Journal: Tuesday, December 12, 1848. Library of Congress, retrieved September 13, 2007. He resigned to run for the Senate from Illinois. His election was voided by the Senate on the grounds that he had not been a United States citizen for the nine years required by the United States Constitution; having been naturalized October 21, 1840. He returned to Illinois and campaigned for re-election, and won the special election to replace himself, and was then seated. In 1855, he was defeated for re-election, so he moved to Minnesota. He was elected as one of the two first Senators from that state, but his term was only from 1858 to 1859, and he was again not re-elected. Civil War and later career Shields then moved to California and served as a brigadier general of volunteers from that state during the American Civil War. He commanded the 2nd Division of the V Corps, Army of the Potomac (subsequently part of the Army of the Shenandoah), during the Valley Campaign of 1862. He was wounded at the Battle of Kernstown on March 22, 1862, but his troops inflicted the only tactical defeat of General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson during the campaign (or the war). The day after Kernstown, he was promoted to major general, but the promotion was withdrawn, reconsidered, and then finally rejected. His overall performance in the rest of the Valley Campaign was poor enough that he resigned his commission, and his departure was not resisted by the War Department. In 1863 he moved to Mexico and operated mines, and then to Wisconsin, but in 1866 moved to Missouri, where he served as member of the Missouri State House of Representatives, and as railroad commissioner. In 1879, he was elected to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Senator Lewis V. Bogy. He served only three months and declined to run for re-election. Shields died in Ottumwa, Iowa. He is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery, Carrollton, Missouri. He was the editor of A History of Illinois, from its Commencement as a State in 1818 to 1847 (1854). He represents Illinois in the National Statuary Hall. See also *List of American Civil War generals References * Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3. Notes External links Category:1810 births Category:1879 deaths Category:United States Army generals Category:American military personnel of the Mexican–American War Category:Union Army generals Category:People of California in the American Civil War Category:American politicians of Irish descent Category:United States Senators from Illinois Category:Illinois Democrats Category:United States Senators from Minnesota Category:Minnesota Democrats Category:United States Senators from Missouri Category:Members of the Illinois House of Representatives Category:Members of the Missouri House of Representatives Category:Missouri Democrats Category:People from County Tyrone Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Comptrollers of Illinois Category:Irish immigrants to the United States (before 1923) de:James Shields fr:James Shields ja:ジェイムズ・シールズ (上院議員) sv:James Shields